Random Most Tragic Accidents On The Track In Nascar History (19 items)

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  (#1) Roy Brannon: The First NASCAR Fatality

  Although Red Byron did survive his crash in NASCAR's inaugural year of 1948, a 7-year old named Roy Brannon wasn't so lucky. Back in the early days, spectators were allowed to crowd around the area less than ten feet from the track, much as rally spectators do today. When Byron's car blew a tire on the Columbus, Georgia dirt track, it went over a clay embankment and into a crowd of 17 spectators. Reports said say 16 were hospitalized, mostly as a result of flying bits of fence and post hitting them. Roy Brannon, though, sustained fatal injuries and died 24 hours later.

  Oddly enough, this happened on July 25th, the same day driver William Davis got into his fatal car crash in North Carolina. But, Davis survived for almost two days afterward, making 7-year-old Roy Brannon (arguably) the first official fatality in NASCAR history. 
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  (#2) Dale Earnhardt

  • Dec. at 50 (1951-2001)

  This was made all the more tragic because nobody who watched the Intimidator's fatal accident on February 18, 2001 thought it was anything other than a standard bump against the wall. It looked like the kind of accident Earnhardt would just laugh off.

  He didn't and the sheer shock of Number 3's passing reverberates. 
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  (#3) Adam Petty

  • Dec. at 20 (1980-2000)

  In probably the best known example of family tragedy in NASCAR racing, the first fourth-generation NASCAR driver in history, was terminated when his throttle stuck open during testing at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000.

  Adam was the son of Kyle Petty, grandson of Richard Petty, and great-grandson of Lee Petty, one of the very first NASCAR drivers. He passed at 19. 
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  (#4) Clifford and Davey Allison

  Clifford and Davey were the sons of racing legend Bobby Allison, and both were rising stars in their respective series. It was a tight family; Clifford used to crew on Davey's car in the ARCA series when he wasn't racing himself. Clifford was taken out during a Busch Series race in 1992.

  Davey was terminated while attempting to land his private helicopter on the infield landing pad of the Talladega speedway.
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  (#5) Joe Weatherly

  • Dec. at 42 (1922-1964)

  Known as "The Clown Prince of Racing," Weatherly was a guy who really loved what he did. He enjoyed practical jokes, and once showed up to take his practice laps in a Peter Pan outfit. He was one of the greatest showmen and sportsmen of his time. On one occasion, Weatherly's engine blew, at the final stretch on the last lap of a race, and friend Ralph Ligouri pushed him across the finish line while the front of his car went up in flame.

  Weatherly played it cool, calling it his ride in "a chariot of fire." But, secretly, it spooked him. After that, Weatherly refused to use a window net or shoulder harness for fear of being trapped in a burning car. That decision proved fatal in 1964, when he struck a wall and went through the window, striking the wall with his head after which he passed instantly. 

  (It's also worth mentioning that Weatherly's passing was the start of the $50 bill superstition in NASCAR. When he passed, two $50s were found in his pocket; NASCAR racers have avoided them on race day ever since.)
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  (#6) Fireball Roberts

  • Dec. at 35 (1929-1964)

  Of the two NASCAR fatalities the average person could name, the other (apart from Earnhardt) will probably be Fireball Roberts. Fireball actually got his nickname from his blistering fastball, honed during his previous career in baseball.

  A graduate of the University of Florida, Fireball raced in the inaugural season of NASCAR in 1948, and was certainly its first great superstar. Calling him the Earnhardt or Richard Petty of his day would be an understatement. In an uncomfortable bit of irony, Fireball passed in a crash in 1964. 
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  (#7) Don Williams

  There is a video of the 1979 crash that left Don Williams badly burned and lingering for the next ten years. Williams' Chevrolet Chevelle spun into a wall as he attempted to avoid a pile-up directly ahead, at the Daytona speedway just down the street from his home in Madison, Florida.

  After suffering for more than a decade, cared for by his wife and family members, Williams passed quietly at the age of 42. 
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  (#8) Kenny Irwin

  Known primarily today as Tony Stewart's fiercest rival, Kenny Irwin was barely out of his rookie year when he was taken out during practice at New Hampshire speedway. What made his passing both particularly tragic, and eerie, was that it was almost a direct repeat of Adam Petty's from two months earlier.

  The cause was a stuck throttle during a practice lap, at almost exactly the same spot on NHIS. 
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  (#9) Talmidge Prince

  The name Talmidge Prince might ring a bell or two, even if it is only as kind of a running joke these days. Talmidge was a perennial underdog who today carries the dubious honor of having the shortest professional career in NASCAR history.

  A mere 18 laps into his very first Grand National race, Talmidge blew his engine, leaving behind an oil slick that caused he and a following driver to lose control. The other driver crashed into Prince's driver side door, and took him out instantly. 
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  (#10) Kevin Ward Jr.

  Technically not a "NASCAR death," since it was in the Sprint Car series. But Kevin Ward was terminated by a NASCAR driver: Tony Stewart. About halfway through a Sprint Car race at the half-mile Canandaigua Motorsports Park, Ward hit a wall and spun out. That drew the caution, but Stewart didn't see it before he rounded the next turn on the short track.

  Ward got out of his car and began to cross to the infield, but Stewart came flying around the bend. Ward gestured at Stewart, but it was too late; he got hit with the left-rear tire of the sliding sprint car. Stewart was cleared of all wrongdoing, but Ward was accused of being intoxicated at the time of the race. That claim remains unsubstantiated. 
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  (#11) Don MacTavish

  At 28 years old, Don MacTavish was well on his way to becoming a superstar in NASCAR racing. He started out in demolition derby racing, and slowly worked his way up, championship by championship, in the lower echelons of stock car racing. In 1969, MacTavish made his debut in the big leagues at (of all places) Daytona.

  On lap nine, he got tangled up with Bob James, and hit the outside wall right at a gap in the wall. Hitting the end of the concrete barrier, the car was sheared in two, and its engine was thrown 100 feet. It was one of the most brutal crashes in NASCAR history. MacTavish actually survived the crash - just long enough be hit by another car. 
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  (#12) Larry Mann

  • Dec. at 22 (1930-1952)

  There are a lot of superstitions in NASCAR apart from Weatherly's $50 bill, and the oldest of them is The Green Car. The superstition was born in the 1920s, when Louis Chevrolet's brother was taken out by a racing a green car in Beverly Hills. Rookie racer and 22-year-old Larry Mann had deliberately set out to defy that superstition when he made a point of painting his Hudson Hornet green for its inaugural season.

  Mann made it 26 races, and was terminated during the 27th race when his Green Hornet went through a fence. 
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  (#13) Carlos Pardo

  • Dec. at 34 (1975-2009)

  NASCAR runs a race series in Mexico called the Corona Series. Carlos Pardo won the series championship in 2004, but had slipped a bit from the limelight by 2009. That year, Pardo was set for a comeback, and fought fiercely for a win at the Autodromo. However, three laps from the finish and winning the race, the second place driver Jorge Goeters put him into a wall. Many say, intentionally. Pardo's car was obliterated by the impact, and Goeters went on to win the only race of his career.

  Well, actually, "win" isn't quite the right word. After the race, NASCAR stripped Goeters of his victory and awarded it to Pardo posthumously. Pardo had been leading the race by 0.044 seconds on the last lap completed under green - which by NASCAR rules means he won. So, Carlos did ultimately gain his final victory...and Goeters hasn't so much as placed on the podium since.
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  (#14) Rick Baldwin

  • Dec. at 42 (1955-1997)

  In a story eerily similar to Don Williams, Baldwin is another who sustained a head injury on-track, and remained comatose for a decade before passing. Baldwin's wife sued, claiming that a failed NASCAR-spec window net was at fault.

  NASCAR was, however, cleared of all negligence by a district court jury. 
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  (#15) Grant Adcox

  • Dec. at 39 (1950-1989)

  In a world of big money race teams, Adcox was the prototypical little guy. For many years, his sole sponsor was his father's Chevrolet dealership, and Adcox absolutely dominated in lower racing series like ARCA where sheer cash wasn't as much of a factor. Despite his lack of money, Adcox's car was very fast - he timed fourth at Daytona in 1979.

  However, the lack of funding did show through, as his powerful engine died shortly thereafter. That lack of support reared its head again in 1989, when he crashed at Atlanta. It was a heavy crash, but one he might have walked away from if not for the fact that his improperly mounted racing seat tore free of its moorings.

   His passing led to a rule change on seat mounting in 1990 - but more than anything else, Adcox is still remembered as an underdog racer who found a whole lot of win in very little money. 
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  (#16) John Blewett III

  • Dec. at 34 (1973-2007)

  John Blewett passed in 2007 on the Thompson Speedway when another motorist hit him in the driver's side door. The speedway decided to retire the number 76 after Blewett's passing. The only person allowed to use it now is Blewett's brother, who did so when he won the 2011 Turkey Derby in John's honor. 
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  (#17) Rodney Orr

  • Dec. at 32 (1962-1994)

  Rodney Orr, like Adcox, was a racer constantly in search of money. In 1993, NASCAR instituted a rule change that made his car ineligible overnight, so Orr pieced together a new ride with a chassis borrowed from Ernie Elliot, and an engine borrowed from Yates Racing. (If that sounds familiar, yes - Will Ferrell actually did get this part of Ricky Bobby's story from Orr.) 

  This part, not so much: He crashed the car in practice, flipping it over a fence and impaling himself on a caution light. In 2001, autopsy photos of both Orr and pop star Lisa Lopes were leaked on the internet, and the whole world saw what a person looked like after being impaled by a caution light. Orr's widow sued the website owner, but the internet never forgets. Subseuently, moves were made to ensure Dale Earnhardt's autopsy photos would never be made public. 
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  (#18) John Nemechek

  • Dec. at 27 (1970-1997)

  John Nemechek was the younger brother of four-time NASCAR victor Joe Nemechek, and worked on his pit crew for a while before becoming a driver himself. Although he wasn't an incredibly successful racer, he did have many top ten finishes in the truck series - and might be the only racer in the last 50 years to actually build his own race car. He called it "The War Wagon."  

  Unfortunately, he lost control and slammed into a wall on the first turn of the Homestead track. He passed five days later, barely a week after turning 27. In the aftermath, Homestead reconfigured the track to a true oval shape with six-degree banking. 
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  (#19) Tom Baldwin

  • Dec. at 57 (1947-2004)

  A veteran driver in the Whelen Modified series, Tiger Tom was voted Most Popular Driver in 2003, the year before he passed. He was a lifelong competitor, beginning his career at 17 years old in 1964, and running every year until his passing in 2004.

  The picture above was taken back when he started in 1965. A true fixture on the circuit, Tom was a much admired veteran and an icon to many of the younger drivers. 

  Baldwin crashed into a barrier to miss a competitor's car, which was itself in the process of crashing. In doing so, Baldwin averted a massive pile-up, and saved the life of the guy in the other car.

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